Hold my heart in two
by spiritdream
Summary: Lambo's 10 Year Bazooka has misfired again and has brought the 12 year old Dino from the past. Hijinks ensue.


**Title:** Hold my heart in two  
**Pairing:** none. Dino, Hibari, Tsuna, Gokudera, Lambo. Namimori. Hibird.  
**Prompt:** Lambo's 10 Year Bazooka has misfired again and has brought the 12 year old Dino from the past. Hijinks ensue.  
**Notes:** written for D18 exchange round II at khr_projects livejournal in 2010. Rather silly, but the prompt was cute and it was fun to write. :)

_Hold my heart in two_

He's in the garden, lying on the grass and dozing, listening to the birds chirping on the tree above his head when he feels a sudden jolt deep in his stomach. He opens his mouth to shout for help but no sound comes out, and in the next minute he's falling and falling and there's a loud thud and pain shots from his right shoulder down along his arm. He coughs, rolling to his side and curling around his injured arm. He feels sick and disoriented. There's no green under his cheek, soft and fresh and familiar, only hard concrete, gritty and cold. He's not in the garden anymore.

Someone laughs above his head and he looks up, sees a kid in cow costume standing next to a purple bazooka. Dino blinks. The bazooka is larger than the kid. The kid points at him and says something, but Dino can't really make out what. The buzzing in his ears is too loud. The kid scowls, shouts and suddenly, he's brandishing grenades in his hands. Dino doesn't know the kid and can't comprehend what he's babbling about, but bazooka and grenades spur him into action. He quickly sits up and scrambles back, but suddenly his back hits something solid. It's a wall. He's trapped. Soon he'll be dead.

Then the kid is lifted by a guy brandishing dynamites and the grenades fall to the floor. There's no explosion and the dynamites are not lit, so Dino breathes a sigh of momentary relief. The kid and the guy are arguing. They are loud and Dino can't understand anything from their shouting, but they don't seem to be paying any attention to him. Now is his chance to get away.

However, before he can make his move, another guy comes up to him and Dino flattens himself to the wall. He's going to die, they're going to kill him and he hasn't even played with his new playstation game.

The guy crouches next to him with a smile, and Dino holds back his breath, waits for knifes or guns or a killing blow. But instead of delivering something bloody and painful, the guy starts to talk. It's not a language Dino is familiar with, but the stranger's voice is calm and soothing and he has kind eyes. Maybe the guy doesn't want to kill him.

"I'm sorry. I can't understand you," Dino says when the guy stops talking and looks at him expectantly, only to frown in confusion when Dino speaks.

"Oh, I see," someone chimes in and _this_Dino can finally understand. There's a baby in a suit standing next to the crouching guy, humming and nodding like everything makes sense to him.

"I don't," Dino says. His head hurts.

"That can be helped." The chameleon on the baby's hat climbs down and transforms into a gun, and before Dino can blink there's a gunshot and everything turns black. So much for the not killing part – he should have known better, really.

* * *

When he comes around he knows he can't be in Heaven because the baby is still there and the kid is laughing and the nice guy looks like he's having a seizure. Nothing makes more sense and his head still hurts, but now he can make out what the people are saying around him, at least.

"Why did you shoot him? Reborn, you can't go shooting people in school! What if Dino-san had really died?"

"Tsuna, I'm a hitman. I shoot people."

"It's no fun, there's no blood. Reborn, you loser! Lambo-san will finish the job for you!"

"If we killed Cavallone's ten years younger self in the present, would his older self also be killed in the past? What do you think, Tenth?"

"I really don't want to find out, Gokudera-kun. Lambo, get away from the bazooka!"

"Prepare to dieeeeeeee!"

"Do as the Tenth says, you idiot cow!"

"Dino-san, are you okay? You're not really dead, are you?"

Dino blinks as the kind guy turns to him again, both hands clutching his hair. Dino shakes his head. It still hurts. His elbow aches and his fingers throb. He's not dead. And if he feels this much pain, he can't be dreaming either.

"I shot him with a Language Bullet because younger Dino doesn't know Japanese," the baby says, effectively silencing everyone in the vicinity. "Dino, I'm Reborn. You may have heard of me even in your time. Due to the Ten Year Bazooka hitting your older self, you've been transported ten years into the future. You're in Japan. This guy," Reborn says, pointing in the direction to the kind guy, "is Sawada Tsunayoshi, successor of the Vongola Family, the Tenth Boss."

"I am _not!_" comes the vehement protest from Sawada.

"These people are his subordinates," Reborn continues smoothly. "The effect of the Bazooka usually lasts for five minutes, but I think Gianni tried to do some improvement so I'm not exactly sure of the new time frame. I hope its effect is temporary, though."

"You hope?" Sawada shrieks.

"Tsuna, panicking doesn't suit the Tenth Boss of the Vongola."

"What can I do but panic? What if Dino-san stays like this forever?"

"Tenth, don't worry! I don't think that's possible. Even if he can't return to the past, he would age like every other, normal human being on Earth. It's physically impossible for him to stay exactly the same."

"That's… a relief, Gokudera-kun."

"Why are you crowding on the rooftop?" someone says in the far back, and everyone freezes for a second.

"Hi-Hibari-san!"

"Classes started ten minutes ago. Why are you all here?"

"W-we're not! H-here!"

"Good timing, Hibari. You're right. We'll leave the rest to you," Reborn says and within a few beats the rooftop becomes deserted. Dino and the new stranger are the only ones still around.

The guy comes forward to look at Dino, but his expression shows nothing as he measures him. Dino looks back at him without flinching. The guy hums then turns, starts to walk away.

"Come," he says after a few steps and Dino doesn't hesitate to get up and run after him. At least this one looks sane.

"No running in school or I will bite you to death."

Dino slows his steps because judging from the guy's tone, the threat is real.

* * *

A few hours later Dino has realized a few things. The sane guy is called Hibari Kyouya and he does a lot of paperwork – in this he's not really different from Dino's grandfather. He likes quiet and his yellow bird and not much anything else. The couch in his room is comfortable enough and Dino doesn't mind sitting on it. Quietly. He misses his playstation, but he has books to occupy himself. When the lines get blurry and he starts to feel restless, the bird flies through the open window and Dino jumps on the chance to play with her.

Once he ventured out of the room during a break, but he run into kind guy (mafia) and his friends (mafia) and there was a lot of explosion and shouting and Hibari got irritated and there was screaming and he was afraid so after that he decided to stay in the room. One of Hibari's subordinates with the funny hair brought food. Dino tried to eat quietly but he still managed to break a glass and spill some soup. Hibari didn't even look up from his papers.

Dino is petting the bird, watching as his fingers disappear and comb through the soft feathers when he feels eyes boring into him. He looks up and catches Hibari watching him. He doesn't look away, and neither does Hibari. They stare at each other until Dino's eyes start to itch and burn.

"Hibari! Hibari!" the bird chirps from Dino's lap.

"Are you mafia?" Dino asks.

"No," Hibari says after a while and Dino nods. He didn't think so. Hibari looks nice. Scary, but nice. He treated Dino's arm and head and he keeps away the crazy mafia guys.

"I am. But I don't want to be."

There is no answer, but Dino is not surprised.

The bird suddenly leaves Dino's lap, circles the room once while singing a tune Dino can't recognize and flies out the window. When Dino can no longer see her on the horizon and turns back to his book, Hibari is standing before the sofa, leaning over Dino, trapping Dino's body between his arms.

Dino blinks. "Yes?"

Hibari looks at him for a few seconds before he says, "You're too quiet."

"Um, I'm sorry," Dino apologizes because he doesn't know what else to do. Maybe he should be afraid, but he doesn't feel threatened.

"It's boring. Cavallone, if you don't show yourself this instant I'll bite you to death."

"Um," Dino starts, but there is a familiar jolt in his stomach and the next minute he's sitting on green grass instead of the purple sofa.

"Um," he says again. Looks like the Bazooka's time was up.

He scowls. He couldn't even say goodbye.

* * *

As it turns out, his next lesson in history covers some aspects of the Cavallone – Vongola alliance. Dino barricades himself in his room and doesn't come out until his tutor promises not to mention Vongola in any of his lectures for a whole year.

- _end_ -


End file.
